Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is being sued for failing to release the full Jeffrey Epstein files as required by law.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Washington, D.C, on Monday by lawyer and political commentator Katie Phang, who slammed Blanche and demanded that the Justice Department release all documents, along with an explanation for any redactions.
She is also calling for the courts to appoint an expert to ensure that Blanche complies with the law.
“This case is about Defendant Todd Blanche’s brazen, shocking, and ongoing violation of the Epstein Files Transparency Act,” the 15-page lawsuit reads.
It argues that the Justice Department’s failure to follow the law and release the files harmed Phang as a journalist who has extensively covered the convicted sex offender.
“Phang’s inability to report with substance on all of the documents she should be able to access has hurt her ability to do her job, and made it harder to fulfill her mission as a journalist and legal analyst,” the lawsuit said.
It comes after Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act in November, which required all documents with limited redactions to be released within 30 days.
However, the Justice Department failed to meet the December deadline, and months later, it still has not released the full files or fully explained the redactions.
Critics have accused the Justice Department of orchestrating a massive cover-up for President Donald Trump, who has appeared thousands of times in the Epstein files and was a longtime associate of the pedophile.
On February 2, the Justice Department released what it claimed would be the “final” batch of documents, along with a six-page letter summarizing categories of records withheld and reasons for redactions.
The lawsuit not only accuses the Justice Department of failing to explain the redactions but also of making inappropriate redactions that did not comply with the law, which specifically aimed to protect victims while blocking the withholding of information about alleged co-conspirators.
Phang wants the Justice Department to be compelled to produce any documents required by law that have not yet been released, and to remove any unlawful redactions and explain any remaining ones. She’s also calling for a special master to be appointed to make sure the department under Blanche is complying.
The lawsuit comes after Blanche, who previously served as Trump’s criminal attorney, claimed earlier this month that the Justice Department has released all the documents it would release.
“We have released everything,” Blanche told Fox News earlier this month. “We reviewed six million pieces of paper. What we released, anything associated with the Epstein files, so we are not sitting on a single piece of paper. Nothing that should be released.”
While Blanche said six million pieces of paper were reviewed, about 3.5 million have been released, suggesting that millions of documents remain withheld.
Blanche took over as head of the Justice Department at the start of the month, when Trump fired former Attorney General Pam Bondi.
It happened just days before Bondi had been required to appear before the House Oversight Committee to be questioned under oath about the administration’s handling of the documents.
The Justice Department argued ahead of the scheduled deposition that Bondi no longer had to comply with the subpoena because she was no longer serving as attorney general. It led to bipartisan outrage, but Bondi’s appearance before the committee has not yet been rescheduled.
Right after being named her replacement, Blanche argued it was time for people to move on from the Epstein files and insisted the administration has been “totally transparent.”
But last week, the Justice Department revealed that the Office of the Inspector General would audit the department’s compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
William Blier, a longtime DOJ employee who is currently serving as acting inspector general for the department, said in a statement that the objective of the audit is to “evaluate the DOJ’s processes for identifying, redacting, and releasing records in its possession as required by the Act.”
But just days before the announcement, the president also nominated Don Berthiaume, another longtime federal watchdog, to fill the role of DOJ inspector general permanently.
